Tears of Sloth
by Wraffie
Summary: When the one he calls 'mother' leaves him alone in a world that despises him, how does Wrath respond? One-shot


{{Note: This is in Wrath's perspective, after the death of Sloth. Also, Polio does not own any Fullmetal Alchemist characters. She only wishes she did. :3}}

Tears of Sloth

He had a balance of emotions. His rage and hate was dominant. He had a peculiar side of innocence and intrigue that occasionally overwhelmed his violent side, and then he had a deep love for his surrogate mother, Sloth. As for the other emotions, it was as if a wall had been put up in his mind that made him all but immune to them. He felt no sorrow, no regret, and no pain. While his rage was magnified, every other feeling was deadened. This was Wrath's balance. This was the assortment of emotion that made him who he was. He saw no need for change.

However, Wrath had had no say in the matter.

Never had he felt such anguish, such guilt, such remorse. A dreadful void burned within his chest, so much so that the pain was almost physical. His thoughts were in turmoil, his mind numb. Sloth was gone. Mommy was vanished. Dead. Forever.

A crucial part of Wrath died with her. The part of him that cared for another. Now, he had only his hate. Only memories of love kept him sane now.

The tortured Homunculus was slumped against a brick wall that lined a street void of people. Empty purple eyes stared unseeing at the sidewalk, until a humourless smirk crossed his rigid face. It was ironic, now that he thought of it. After all, he had wanted to feel something other than anger his entire wretched life. And now that he had accomplished this, he simply wanted it to end.

Wrath whimpered as the images of Sloth's last moments forced their way into his mind. One moment, she had been opaque and solid. The next, her body had become translucent, and tinted green. Edward had completed his transmutation of her body. And Wrath had helped him.

A sob shook him out of his reverie, and fresh tears slid down his pale cheeks.

"I'm s-sorry, Mommy! I d-didn't mean t-to! I j-just wanted to p-protect y-you!" he babbled as if Sloth could really hear him. He wrapped his mismatched arms around himself.

Her last words to him caused him even more pain as he remembered them.

"_You fool."_

More tears joined the others that had fallen and matted in his hair. He cringed away from the memories, but they kept on playing.

_Mommy turned toward the Elric brothers, whispering a loving farewell to each of them._

At this memory, Wrath's eyes narrowed dangerously. His body shook as an all-too-familiar rush of anger shot through him.

"They killed you, and you still loved them, didn't you?" he cried, glaring up at the cloudy grey sky as if to seek out Sloth.

Despite the fact that it was Envy's turf to feel this way, Wrath felt a vicious surge of jealousy that gushed through him like a current.

"Did you ever really love me, Mommy? Or were you just pretending, like Envy always said?" he demanded, his voice breaking.

There was no reply from the heavens. No enlightening sign to deny or concur with this unforgiving accusation. Suddenly, Wrath recalled Sloth's face, warm and welcoming with a tender, motherly smile.

But his hatred, his jealousy was poisoning his memories, altering them. And before his eyes, the affectionate smile distorted to a mocking smirk.

Wrath believed it now. She had been faking the whole time. Appeasing his need for love, while laughing at his naiveté.

Now, suddenly, all of his memories of Sloth seemed to point to that. Where before he had seen sincere adoration, now he could only remember her apathy.

He was breathing heavily now, the ache of regret within turning to a knot of pure hatred.

"I hate you, Mommy!" he shouted, the venom in his voice seeming to chill up the humid air. A breeze blew by him, and it sounded like a rebuke, like a shocked murmur trying to silence him, and reprove him for his callous words.

How had he met Sloth? How had he decided that she was his mother? He forced his mind to think back, through all the new, altered memories containing Sloth.

_Wrath lurched out of the water, gasping for air and coughing violently. He shot around, pushing his sodden side-bangs out of his face to clear his vision. There she was. That water creature. He had been _inside _her. What was going on? In his confusion, he became aggravated. He hunched down slightly like an animal._

"_Who are you?" he demanded of her savagely, tensing. Her purple gaze remained as calm as ever. However, he thought he saw the tiniest half-smirk twist her lips. But his attention shifted as a low feminine voice spoke somewhere behind him._

"_The birth of Wrath." Envy chuckled, an amused smirk on his face. _

"_Relax, brat. That's Sloth. She's with us," he added gruffly, with more seriousness. _

_Wrath relaxed obediently, relieved, despite himself, to see Envy. However, it was obvious he wasn't too pleased at being referred to as 'brat'. He had suffered through a lot within the Gate! He deserved some respect! He bared his teeth and lifted his chin in a show of disdain._

_Despite this bravado, Wrath's palpable anger gave way to apprehension as Envy left the room._

"_Take care of him, Sloth," Envy drawled darkly before exiting the dark lit room._

_Wrath watched him leave in silence. He turned his sharp gaze back to this 'Sloth', and he started when he saw she was approaching him._

_She stopped a few feet away from him, and he glowered up at her uneasily. She was silent a moment, and when she spoke, her voice was soft, almost melancholy. _

"_You have no mother anymore, do you, Wrath?" She breathed._

_Her words had a strange effect on Wrath, who gazed down at the ground with a grimace. _

"_No." He replied gruffly, unable to stop his childlike voice from breaking as he mouthed the syllable._

_Sloth nodded very slowly, closing the distance between them and gently lifting Wrath's chin with her gloved forefinger._

_Wrath looked at her in confusion, seeing the strange look of love in her eyes. _

"_I have no sons anymore," Sloth murmured as she pulled Wrath into a motherly embrace. _

_The love Wrath had seen in her eyes had not been for him, but for the sons Sloth had once had._

_But it didn't matter. At that moment, Wrath adopted Sloth as his mother, and Sloth adopted Wrath as her son._

Wrath snarled as this memory struck him. Suddenly, in his mind's eye he envisioned Sloth smirking wickedly behind his back even as she held him in that moment. Was that all that had happened? The manipulative Sloth had won him over with a couple of words and a hug?

_Somehow, as time went by it was as if Sloth had always been his mother. Thoughts of Izumi faded. Their perverted love had grown. _

At least, Wrath's love for her had grown, he thought bitterly. She had simply maintained the caricature of love.

_He would wait, every evening, for her to come home, his heart beating faster in anxiety if she was just a couple minutes late. All the other Homunculi hated him. He didn't care, as long as he had Sloth. Somewhere in the back of his mind Wrath knew it was only his ability to utilize Alchemy that saved him from immediate disposal. That, and Sloth. His Mommy would never let the others hurt him._

What a lie! The present Wrath thought fiercely. He accented every mental word by slamming his fist into the brick behind him. Wrath hated the one who had been his only love before. A mad look entered his eyes and he gritted his teeth.

Wrath's hatred was perfect. His balance had shifted. What innocence could remain with such purest loathing in his heart? And what love could he feel with even his own kind resenting him? He was losing his mind to his rage.

Wrath hated Sloth for leaving him, too. For abandoning him, whether by choice or not, it didn't matter to him now. In his blind, fevered rage, Wrath didn't notice the rain at first. But then he felt the chilling droplets fall against his skin, and he started out of his violent reverie for a moment.

Initially, the drops only angered him more. But gradually, their cold, yet soothing quality almost lifted his spirits. The raindrops felt like fingers stroking his head consolingly, the wind sounded like a gentle "Shhhh" calming his spirit. Wrath felt the rain soak into his bones, settling into his marrow like a shield, and an escape from his anger, steadily working it out, loosening the knot of anger he himself had tied.

The wind moaned mournfully around him, and he thought he heard sobs mixed into it.

The raindrops were tears, falling from the sky and soaking the entire city in a display of greatest sorrow.

How sad the sky must be, Wrath thought vaguely, all of Central is getting wet because it's so upset.

Wrath leaned even more heavily against the blank slate wall, his entire body relaxed. Despite the racket the sky was making, the Sin child had never felt more at peace. His mind was empty, his thoughts extinguished. Somewhere in the back of his head, something clicked.

_Sloth evaporating into the sky. The sky that was now crying._

It was Mommy! This realization made Wrath's own tears join the sky's.

Mommy's tears, he suddenly knew. Sloth's tears. Mommy was crying for him, trying to protect him from himself. She hadn't abandoned him. Even in death she was showing her love for him.

"Mommy…you really do love me…" Wrath murmured tearfully, but this time tears of delight slid down his thoroughly soaked cheeks. He inclined his head towards the sky, staring up at it lovingly. Even as the raindrops soaked his hair and clothes, plastering them to his pale skin Wrath had no desire to move.

He lifted his left hand weakly, reaching up at the black clouds above him and closing his palm. As if on some cue, the wind began blowing again. The pitter-patter of the rain intensified. All of the sounds suddenly turned into a single voice.

And Wrath smiled at what the rain, and the sky, and the wind, at what Mommy, was telling him. He would never forget these words. Sloth's _real _last words.

"_I love you, my son."_

~La Fin~

{{From Polio: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. And if you didn't, feel free to 'splain why. =) }}


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